GW event: From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World – Let’s End Violence against Women

This international video conference will link the George Washington University with Lahore College for Women’s University (LCWU) in Pakistan for a live student discussion to mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence. It will provide the opportunity for students at both universities to share views about challenges and prospects for change. The event is part of a new three-year partnership between GW and LCWU funded by the U.S. Department of State.

Convenors/moderators: Professor Barbara Miller, Elliott School, GW

Professor Shaista Khilji, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, GW

Professor Sarah Shahed, Chair, Department of Gender and Development Studies, LCWU

When: Tuesday, December 3 | 8:30 AM-10:00 AM

Where: 1957 E Street NW, Lindner Family Commons, 6th floor

To RSVP for this event: go.gwu.edu/LCWU

Sponsored by the Elliott School’s Global Gender Program (GGP). Coffee/tea/juices will be provided.

GW event: Innovations in Evaluating Health Campaigns in Developing Countries

RSVP HERE

Anthropology and anthropological teaching in Kerala

Guest post by Dr. S. Gregory

The year 2012-13 marked a milestone in the History of Anthropology in Kerala for multiple reasons. Among many things, it marked the 25 years of PG teaching in Anthropology in Kerala and the Department of Anthropology had the unique privilege of organizing the Indian Anthropological Congress, the 10th Congress of the Indian National Confederation and Academy of Anthropologists (INCAA). The INCAA Congress, which was held as a full Congress once in three years and inter-Congresses in between, would henceforth be holding its full Congress every year under the name ‘Indian Anthropological Congress’, for which Kannur sets its beginning. The 2013 Congress held between 14 and 16 February 2013 aimed at taking a fresh look at the anthropological identities and approaches in the context of the emerging challenges and examines its potentiality for the future of the humankind. Hence, the focal Theme of the IAC 2013 was ‘Anthropology and the Future of Humankind. The theme of the Congress was chosen in the context of the dilemma Anthropology confronts between its professional commitment and the tendency to compromise its autonomy in order to erase out its anti-establishment stance, and hence of the urgency to examine the role of Anthropology vis-à-vis the future of humankind. The Congress attracted senior and young Anthropologists, from all over India, from the North, North East, East, West and South, with a total of about 250 participants, more than two third of them being from outside Kerala.

The inaugural function was presided over by the National President of INCAA, Prof. R.K. Mutatkar. Prof. A.P. Kuttikrishnan, the then Pro-Vice Chancellor of Kannur University inaugurated the Congress. Prof Gregory welcomed the gathering and provided a glimpse of the decade evolution of the Congress. Prof. PRG Mathur, the senior-most Anthropologist in Kerala, and Prof. B. Ananda Bhanu, the former Head of the Department of Anthropology were felicitated on the occasion by the President of INCAA, Prof. Mutatkar. This was followed by Prof. B.M. Das Memorial Oration by Prof D.K. Bhattacharya, from Delhi University, and was presided by Prof I.J.S. Bansal. The INCAA publications were released on the occasion. The academic exercise of the Congress started with the Round Table, which was moderated by Prof A.K. Danda, the Member-Secretary of INCAA. Fourteen eminent Anthropologists from all over India made deliberations on the conference theme: Anthropology and the Future of Humankind. It brought out a few significant concerns related to the academic and social situation which demands some methodological and analytical changes within anthropology as a discipline.

The second day of the Congress started with the Plenary Session. There were two speakers in the plenary session. Prof B.V. Sharma from Hyderabad Central University deliberated on ‘Culture and Development’ while Dr. Kannan P. Nambiar from George Washington University, Washington DC talked on the ‘Feminization of Migration and Human Rights’. This was followed by the S.C. Dube memorial lecture by Prof. Parasuram, Director of TISS, Mumbai and was presided by Prof Yogesh Atal. Prof Parasuram also released the Silver Jubilee Souvenir of the Department on the occasion, which provides a comprehensive picture about the Department and its overall profile.

The Scientific Sessions, which followed the SC Dube Memorial Lecture, involved six symposiums on varied themes, ranging from Ethnic Identity to sustainable Development, Health and Disease, Human Genetics, Growth and Developoment, Multiculturalism and Anthropological Identities and Approaches, and were held parallel in six different venues, each with three Technical Sessions. More than 80 papers had been deliberated in these sessions, followed by academic discussions. The Poster Session of the Congress had papers across all the themes of the Symposium. The cultural banquet offered by professional artists and by our own students, giving a few glimpses of Kerala Culture, enthralled the participants to its peak.

The third day started with a Special Interactive Session on Tribal Development, with the participation of the tribal activist, from Kerala Ms. C.K. Janu and moderated by Dr J.J. Pallath. The interaction was made lively and truly enriching and enlightening with the participation of Dr Jakka Parthasarathy, the former Director of the Tribal Research Center, Dr Francis Kulirani, the former Deputy Director of the Anthropological Survey of India and Shri Mohankumar, the former Director of KIRTADS. This was followed by the valedictory function which was presided over by the senior anthropologist, Dr. PRG Mathur. The Valedictory address was delivered by Prof Hussain Khan of Karnataka University. The winners of the Quiz program, conducted for the higher Secondary Anthropology students, which was one of the pre-Congress exercise, were honored with cash awards and memento.

The participants expressed a deep sense of appreciation for an excellent organization and arrangement as well as academic deliberations during the Congress. The Congress, organized under the aegis of INCAA, was made possible with the financial support from IGRMS, ICSSR, KIRTADS, Praxis India and from the University. The INCAA Kerala Chapter and the Faculty and students from the department had been the backbone in making the Congress a grand success. The extensive coverage given by the Press was unprecedented and provided the necessary boost to take Anthropology in Kerala to new heights. It had also provided an opportunity for the young anthropologists to get exposed to the wider canvas of Indian Anthropology.

Though the roots of anthropology in India could be traced back to the early phase of the colonial era, Anthropology as an Academic discipline had its beginning in India, only in 1920, with the starting of the Department of Anthropology at Calcutta University, with L.K. Ananthakrishna Iyer from Kerala as one of the founding fathers of the Department. The 22^nd Indian Science Congress held at Calcutta in 1935, under the Presidency of Dr J.H. Hutton, with the theme Anthropology and India, and the establishment of Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) in 1945, carving it out from the Zoological Survey of India are worth mentioning here.

In Kerala, the ethnological tradition of L.K. Ananthakrishna Iyer was continued by his son L.A. Krishna Iyer, and carried forward further by his grandson L.K Balaratnam, the living continuity of this trio. Yet another doyen of Anthropology was Prof. A. Aiyappan, former Vice-Chancellor of Kerala University. The line of Anthropological stalwarts in Kerala would be incomplete without the name of Prof. PRG Mathur. The Tribal Research and Training Institute (TR&TI) established in 1970 with Professor A. Aiyappan as its Founding Special Officer, later became a separate Department of the Government of Kerala and renamed as Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (KIRTADS) in 1979, under the Directorship of Professor PRG Mathur, to conduct research on socioeconomic status of tribes, and impart training to officials posted in tribal areas about the tribal culture. KIRTADS became a center for Anthropological doctoral Research as well at a time when there was no Anthropology Department in any of the Universities in Kerala. Prof. Mathur had also been instrumental in the establishment of the Ananthakrishna Iyer International Centre for Anthropological Studies (AICAS) in 1979, at Palakkad, with the main objective of promoting anthropological research in South India.

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Washington, D.C. event: Our Walls bear Witness – The Plight of Burma’s Rohingya

The Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Burma, have long considered among the world’s most persecuted peoples.Denied citizenship and rendered stateless by the Burmese government, the 800,000 Rohingya lack basic rights, including the right to work, marry, and travel freely, and routinely suffer severe abuse.

Following violent attacks in 2012 that destroyed numerous Rohingya communities, more than 100,000 are now confined to displacement camps and segregated areas, where they continue to be subjected to violence including crimes against humanity.

When: November 4th, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Rubinstein Auditorium
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW
Washington, DC

Featuring:
Greg Constantine, Photographer

Holly Atkinson, MD, Director of the Human Rights Program
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Past President, Physicians for Human Rights

Maung Tun Khin, President, Burmese Rohingya Organization UK (BROUK)

The speakers will discuss the photographs and the stories of individuals whose lives have been affected by violence against the Rohingya and Muslims elsewhere in Burma.

Images of the Rohingya displaced in Burma and in exile taken by prize-winning photographer Greg Constantine will be projected each evening from November 4th to 8th on the Museum’s exterior walls on 15th Street SW (Raoul Wallenberg Place). This exhibition is free and open to the public.

GW event: The Predicament of Aftermath – The Challenges of Exhibiting the Oklahoma City Bombing and 9/11

This event features Edward J. Linenthal, Professor of History at Indiana University

When: November 4, 2013, 7 PM

Where: Jack Morton Auditorium, School of Media and Public Affairs

Edward Linenthal’s residency at The George Washington University is made possible by the Program in Judaic Studies and the generosity of Dr. Munr Kazmir and by the Museum Studies Program, the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences.

GW event: Why the World Bank Should Take a Human Rights Approach to Hydrodevelopment

Barbara Rose Johnston, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Political Ecology, Santa Cruz, CA, will address hydrodevelopment and its connections to crimes against humanity with reference to Chixoy dam in Guatemala.

When: Wednesday, October 23, 2013, 5:00-6:30pm

Where: 1957 E Street NW, Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
George Washington University, Washington, DC

RSVP: go.gwu.edu/hydrodevelopment

Presented by the Culture in Global Affairs Program Seminar Series and the Global Policy Forum of GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs’ Institute for Global and International Studies

Washington, D.C. event: Crisis in the Central African Republic

You are invited to a Great Lakes Policy Forum on the crisis in the Central African Republic, co-sponsored with the National Endowment for Democracy.

On March 24, 2013, the Seleka rebels seized control of the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), Bangui, forcing President Francois Bozize to flee. Current President Michel Djotodia faces the difficult task of restoring order and organizing elections once the 18-month transition period expires. Please join us for a discussion with Central African legislature and civil society members on the latest crisis situation in the Central African Republic, affecting the Great Lakes region as a whole.

When: Friday September 27, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Where: Main Conference Room, National Endowment for Democracy, 1025 F Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20004

Speakers:

Emilie Beatrice Epaye, Member of the National Transitional Council

Nicolas Guerekoyama Gbangou, Member of the National Transitional Council

The Right Reverend Nestor Nongo Aziagbia, Bishop of Bossangoa

Mathias Morouba, Attorney and head of Observatoire Centrafricain des Droits de l’Homme Dave Peterson, Senior Director, Africa, National Endowment for Democracy

Moderator:

Ambassador Laurence D. Wohlers

Former U.S. Ambassador to the Central African Republic

RSVP Here

Call for: Panel and paper proposals, conference on anthropology and photography

The Royal Anthropological Institute is pleased to announce that a conference, Anthropology and Photography, will take place at the British Museum, Clore Centre, in conjunction with the museum’s Anthropology Library and Research Centre. The aim of the Conference is to stimulate an international discussion on the place, role and future of photography. Panel proposals are therefore welcome from any branch of anthropology.

We welcome contributions from researchers and practitioners working in museums, academia, media, the arts and anyone who is engaged with historical or contemporary production and use of images.

Panels can draw upon (but are not limited to) the following themes:

The use of photography across anthropological disciplines

The changing place of photography in museums and exhibitions

Photography and globalisation

Photography, film and fine art

Revisiting and re-contextualising archival images

Photography and public engagement

Ethics, copyright, access and distribution of images

Technological innovation and its impact

Regional photography practices

Visual method and photo theory

The call for panels opens on 1 August 2013 and closes on 31 October 2013.

The call for papers opens on 27 November 2013 and closes on 8 January 2014.

In DC: WAPA networking/happy hour

The Washington Association of Practicing Anthropologists announces its September networking/happy hour on September 17, 6:30 pm at the Beacon Bar & Grill.

The group can usually be found at the tables next to the large windows, near the servers’ station. In good weather, we may be outside. Registration is helpful for planning purposes, but is not required.

Note: The Beacon has happy hour specials on food and drink until 7:00 pm, so arriving early is strongly encouraged. Also, some servers at the Beacon won’t do separate checks, so paying with cash is much appreciated. Apologies for the inconvenience.

How to get there: The Beacon Bar & Grill is in the Beacon Hotel located at 1615 Rhode Island Ave NW (corner of Rhode Island and 17th St). From Metro Red Line Farragut North station, take either L St exit, walk one block east to 17th St, turn left and walk 3 blocks north to the Beacon (one block past the Sumner School where the monthly WAPA meetings are held).